Wednesday 24 December 2014

Drawing of the day...

I don' t know where I get my inspiration. So don' t ask. Enjoy!!!




Monday 15 December 2014

poem of the day


The journey
(François Marceau 12-12-2014)

We write poems, stories
Which no one reads
We create, record music
Which no one bothers to buy or listen
We draw illustrations, paintings
Which no one cares during our present existence 
We are artists
But we need a day job to pay the bills
We are creators
We are alone
We are confident
We are strong
We believe in ourselves
Because no one else will...




Thursday 11 December 2014

Art is everywhere part 22

I got recently a parcel from USA. There was no return address included. Inside the small package there was three weird, wicked mail art pieces. Here they are, enjoy the show!!!











Wednesday 10 December 2014

Magic Moods – tropical rain forest (CD)


I bought this at Renaissance Montréal for 3.00$ on a cold Sunday afternoon. I think I purchased something like three DVD`s and five or six CD`s that day. It looked like field recordings so, of course, I bought it.  I`m a sucker for field recordings. I was just hoping it didn`t sound like some of the usual relaxing new age music crap out there.  Upon the first listen, I`m pleasantly surprised it really sounds like field recordings. I hear water running, rain falling, birds chirping,  minimal unidentified nature sounds, insects doing… Well you know what they do ok?  Insect things,  Which are sonically too weird to explain / interpret here. First letdown this album consists of one track and at 22.07 minutes it`s too short for my taste buds (they could have released this on a mini CD-R).  Second letdown, after repeated listenings it gets annoying like hell. The various birds have some highly piercing / squawks, it sounds like short distorted violin samples. If you are able to forget the birds, well this is a pretty damned good but short tropical rain forest recording. I saw this for 4.51$ (and without the shipping it`s 2.00$) on amazon.com, good deal. 


Hirorishima Yeah! # 117 (November 20 14) (zine)



I just reveived in the mail today my monthly installment of this lovely 8.5 by 11 inches cut and paste, black and white, five pager zine. The cover star of this issue is lord cut-up himself Willaim S Burroughs. About thirty years ago I started reading `the naked lunch`, and never finished it. I was more into Howard Phillip Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Baudelaire (les fleurs du mal), Gaston Leroux and Agatha Christie. Burroughs was way too weird for me at the time. We have on the front page poetry with `a hunger for pain that`s endless`. My favorite poems are:
Wait for the light
Wit sit and wait
For the light
That may never come.
And
After the referendum
After the referendum,
There are still a lot of people
With YES posters in their windows.
Perhaps they are all
Rick Wakeman fans.
Good one maybe they`re all Daniel Bryan fans as well. Gary Simmons writes `1.5 years on probation`. It gives you an idea of the life in jail in the Uk, with  lots of obscure, antisocial, funny as hell music references included. There`s some music, concerts (`Wooden Wand`, live in Glasgow and `The Hold Steady`also in Glasgow), DVD and book reviews. We have more texting insanities from DA MAN himself Gary Simmons (`fuck the cheque`what a cool title).  Mark Ritchie if you read my reviews and I`m sure you do, I have a friendly advice for you. You should definitely publish a book with your short stories and / or poetry. I really enjoyed reading `window seat`, simply amazing (if you want to know what it`s all about contact Mark, THIS I COMMAND!!!).  We close this zine with the monthly serial `Doctor Thornaby chapter 3` (by: A Willshaw). Contact: 
Mark Ritchie
94 Main Street
Forth
Lanark
ML11 8AB
UK

Hiroshima Yeah! # 116 (October 2014) (zine)



This is a 8.5 by 11 inches cut and paste, black and white, monthly five pager zine. There`s a picture of Steve  McQueen `the coolest goddam motherfucker ohn the silver screen.` Here`s some of my favorites  cool tough guys from the silver screen (in no particular order): Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, Yul Brynner, Clint Eastwood, Lance Henriksen and Michael Ironside. We start things up with poetry and `random acts of hopelessness`. This time around I read two amazing poems which are:
Disdain dripping
Your fake smile 
That no one`s buying,
Disdain dripping from every pore
As you pull us pints,
We are but pigs
At your sacred trough.
Your very presence
Is an instant buzzkill.
Why don`t you go and
Work in a fucking morgue,
Bitch?
And
The quiet majority
The slogans,
The posters,
The badges,
The proud painted faces:
They are alienating,
Orwellian,
Those of us who hold
A different view
Huddle in corners,
Speak in hushed tones,
Made to feel like traitors
Because we do not believe
The lies,
The spin.
But we are the quiet majority.
The knot in our collective stomachs
Now gone.
Man, I love this stuff short and sweet that`s the way to do it. We follow this with `the great rock`n`roll tolchock` Gary Simmons insane, crazy, funny like hell monthly installment of life in the inside i.e. in jail. There`s some music, book and DVD  (World War Z, I still didn`t find the time to watch this) reviews. Mark Ritchie writes `revolving door`. A short story  happening at the pub where he has to deal with various types of morons while trying to drink in peace and quiet. I can definitely relate to that. More reading material from Gary Simmons, who wrote `I saw my mommy.` It`s a collection of various text messages between Mark Ritchie, Pamela, Paolo and Gary himself. We fnish things up `Doctor Thornaby` chapter three, written by A Willshaw.  This is definitely weird, kinda out there material. Now don`t just stand there. 
Contact: 
Mark Ritchie
94 Main Street
Forth
Lanark
ML11 8AB
UK

Saturday 6 December 2014

`I`m in law school,`said Alex Schwartz (mini CD-R)



A friend of mine who owns a small independent record label recently gave me six plastic bags full of CD`s / cassettes / DVD`s. He was moving in a smaller apartment and he needed more room, hence the cool donations. The first thing that caught my attention  was this small CD-R.  I do a search on google but can`t find much information. Upon closer examination I notice two things: it`s self-released and it has a limited edition of… God knows what, I own copy number fifteen. I don`t know if this is done on purpose but all three tracks keep skipping most of the times. This is definitely an annoying listening experience. Track number one has vocals with psychedelic guitar. If Syd Barrett was still alive and jamming, well you get the drift. The second song has more vocals and new wave chiptune music. Devo meets Super Mario Bros perhaps (great stuff, definitely standout material here). The last track has some fuzzed out electric guitar mixed with even more vocals. It sounds like a lowbrow, low-fi version of `Jesus And Mary Chain`s`first album `Psychocandy`. The only contact information is an old email address:  
bayspress@hotmail.com
I don`t know if it`s still valid but it`s certainly worth a try. This mini CD-R was self-released in 2003 and seems to be a one shot only. Too bad it`s skipping most of the times GGGODDDDAMMITTT!!!                                                 
                 

Thursday 27 November 2014

Mark Sonnenfeld

Here's a Mark Sonnenfeld add / pass sheet. This time around it's a three way split.




Friday 21 November 2014

Hashisheen - the end of law (CD)




 I got this as a trade item (this CD was released in 1999, on Sub Rosa). This album offers a strong mix of spoken word with various music styles: ambient, darkwave ambient, minimalism, experimental, and minimal dub with percussive elements. This is a peaceful, extremely relaxing full length. Standout tracks are: `the divine self`(amazing ambient piece with minimal undertones), and `sologans`(a short track  of  evocative and cinematic ambience). There`s only one way to listen to this album: lying on your bed, headphones on with the volume full blast i.e. to make sure you hear / feel the numerous sonic subtleties at work here. I don`t know a lot about Bill Laswell (the man behind this project) except that he is a magnificent bass player and a prolific artist. I love `the end of law` CD it`s an incredible album. I recently got a hold of `Imaginary Cuba` CD and I can`t wait to find the proper time to hear it, enjoy it  and just relaxxx… The problem is when you`re getting older like me, time is a luxury you don`t have any more (ah, the joys of this modern world and the age of so-called global communications). I don`t want to sound like an old redundant geezer but if you can get a hold of this album, well. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!!!         


                                                            

Thursday 13 November 2014

Sounds For The Post-Peak – episodes 1 & 2 (cassette)



`Sounds from the post peak ` is a bi-mensual radio show done by the fine folks at `Crustacés Tapes.` to receive the tape, all you have to do is send them by good old postal system a gift, it could be anything here. In my case I sent them copies of the `Mastock` newsletter. Next time I think I will send them some of my noise / music, we`ll see. Upon the first listen, I`m hooked, hooked for two good reasons.
A – This is really great stuff.
B – There`s no publicity, no DJ talking, just a pure sonic adventure full of unconventional, fringe discoveries.
Episode 1 (28.50 minutes) offers a potent mix of: electroacoustics, light noise bursts, ambient noise with random percussive elements, something which sounds like instrumental classical Asian music, found sounds and experimental ditties of unknown origins. 
Episode 2 (28.42 minutes) consists of a nice blend of: low-fi minimalism with light percussive elements, menacing low-fi rumblings (death ambience perhaps), light subtle grating noisebursts with some percussions thrown in we end this with some low-fi orchestrations which goes into aural minimalism. Contact: Crustacés Tapes
4555 rue Pontiac
Montréal
Québec
Canada
H2J 2T2
http://crustacestapes.tumblr.com/ 
and also :  
http://www.radio-on-berlin.com/

Dan Gibson`s Solitudes Volume Four – Niagara Falls (CD)



Every once in a while I like to go record / CD/ DVD hunting. I always check the second hand record stores or cool places like: Village Des Valeurs, The Salvation Army and Renaissance Montréal. There is a lot of Renaissance shops in Montréal. They do have some good prices as well: 3.00 $ per CD and 4.00 $ per DVD. I like to visit them on Sundays because it`s not as crazy as Saturdays. I never heard of Dan Gibson before but the title of this CD `Niagara falls the gorge and glen among the ponds and streams of the Niagara` attracted my curiosity. I thought it`s either some sort of field recordings or new age (I hope it`s not the case here) music. I come back home, open up a cold beer, sit down and push the play button.  I clear my mind of thoughts and start listening. I have to push the volume button high in order to hear something. WOW!!! There`s two long (30 minutes) Niagara fall field recordings. I hear the water slowly falling, various birds (Gulls, Cardinals, Robins, Ducks, Canadian Geese, sparrows, etc) and a plethora of unknown sounds. Field recordings are regarded as non-music (it`s not noise) because there`s no melody, no rhythm i.e. no musicality. Personally this is music to my ears. It is a peaceful, relaxing, and soothing listening experience. Upon doing a little research I discover that Dan Gibson (1922-2006) was a Canadian photographer, cinematographer and sound recordist. Also, about 223 studio albums were released by solitudes (this one came out in 1982). I highly recommended it if you can find his albums. More reasons to scope out second hand record stores.                                          

Sunday 2 November 2014

Art is everywhere part 21

This time around I have four incredible mail art pieces for you to enjoy. Let the show begin!!!
The first one is kinda hardcore but if you look at the address and you know that mail artist, then you should expect to be shocked!




This is more like it.



Same thing here.



The last one is always the best one!!!



Thursday 9 October 2014

Other Organs – Glimpse (EP)

Other Organs is the solo project of senior Derek Mann, from Tarpon Springs, Florida, USA. I don`t know what`s in the water, or is it the weather, or the nice beaches but man, there is a lot of amazing noisers / musicians originating from Florida. There`s four instrumental track on this EP. We start things up with relaxing / repetitive ambient / ambient noise = meditative moods for rainy days (upon gazing eyes), Then there`s some ambient synth / VST mixed with voice samples = aural minimalism (in his sun). We have some minimal electronic music generating a `new age` atmosphere (ages of new). This song gave me some really good vibes. We end this with a piece of dark minimal electronic music with percussive element (processes of Pluto). This EP (21.37 minutes) would easily fit on a mini CD-R. I love this and I totally recommend it. More info here:    
https://soundcloud.com/otherorgans
And here:
https://www.facebook.com/otherorgans?

Friday 3 October 2014

A couple of Distroboto mini CD reviews

What is distroboto? Here is the exact answer from their website :distroboto machines are former cigarette machines which no longer sell cigarettes, but instead, sell art in the form of miniature books, crafts, comics, music, film, animation and more, all for only $2.00 each! 






Last time around I bought four mini CD¸s. So here`s four mini reviews as well. Let`s start with:
Tony Ezzy: these things I have seen (EP)
There`s three songs plus a fourth ghost track. I never heard anything like this before. How to give this a proper description? A wild, off the wall, spacey  near jazz orchestrations. Imagine this as the bastard child of (in no particular order): Hawkwind, Amon Duul II and Sun Ra. I know it`s weird, it`s damned weird. I( read that he`s really good live. More information here:  
http://www.tonyezzy.com/


Jeff Barbara: soft to the touch (EP)
Off with the weird and on with the more conventional this time around. Jeff Barbara delivers six short but well crafted songs. His music is a potent mix of: glam, soft rock, pop, light soul with some nice grooves included (not disco oriented). Lots of influences are at work here (or so it seems): Roxy Music (the `Avalon ` album), KC & The Sunshine Band, Steve Winwood (`Arc Of A Diver `album) and David Bowie (the seventies perhaps). Good stuff. Contact:       http://www.jefbarbara.com/index.php


Aerosol Constellations / Bridges to Dreams – Split                        A - Aerosol Constellations: the moon as landed = a slow, drony, evolving ambient soundscape exploring the vast uncharted coldness of space. This one sounds like cold, and spacey ambient noise. 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aerosol-Constellations/289601157717668
b – Bridges To Dreams: the waiting room = low-fi synth + droning / repetitive / slightly distorted guitar + a minimally immersive drum beat = pure slowcore shoegaze bliss. Mighty impressive material.
www.bridgestodreams.bandcamp.com/


Darcin: des mitaines chaudes (EP)
This is Nicolas Dion`s solo electronic music project. He delivers two tracks of extremely minimal, low-fi ambient music (toned-down electroaccoustics perhaps?).  A pretty peaceful experience it feels like listening to almost nothing at all. If you`re into Richard Chartier`s  reductionist microsound electronic music, then this baby`s for you. More Darcin  goodies here: 
https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Nicolas+Dion%22

Monday 29 September 2014

Dysthymia - those silent thoughts (cassette)



                           
This is the second time I get my greedy hands on a Dysthymia release. Dysthymia is  an American project of depressing and noisy analogue and industrial works. To be honest, I don`t find thid depressing at all. I find this noisy and times but not like an all out wall of noise assault ( MSBR anybody?). there`s six tracks on this sixty minutes long tape. And what does it sounds like? Well, here goes;
1 - The formation of illogical thoughts patterns: short noise bursts mixed with rhythmic noise.
2 - Recalling my every failure, a sick amusement: noise drones which generates a cold and desolate atmosphere.
 3 - My composed and stoic persona is a convincing lie: self generating / regenerating noise burst / drones.
4 - A compulsion for self-inflicted misery: grinding, grating ambient noise with mucho dark undertones (now that`s why I came here for).
5 - An ominous knell pervades past,present,future: a scary atmosphere simply done with a good dosage of short noise bursts (doing more with less).
6 - Calmly drifting out of orbit- A requiem: claustrophobic, spacey ambient noise (in space no one can hear you scream folks). Contact:  
Self Abuse Records  
PO box 87 
Groveton  
NH 
03582  
USA

Friday 26 September 2014

Shy Rights Movement - a lifetime in the shadows (CD)




I listen to various styles of noise / music. Shy Rights Movement is Mark Ritchie`s solo musical outlet. There`s eleven tracks and a total running time of 44.17 minutes of material.  The music is really basic i.e. stripped down. It consists of acoustic and / or fuzzy electric guitar mixed with Mark`s personal / peculiar signing. I like this CD it`s a nice mix of relaxing, minimal, lo-fi, foreboding, melancholic somber melodies / ballads for rainy days. Or perhaps, when you wake up in the morning after an evening of too much drinking / partying. I recommend this if you like, in no particular order: Terry Lee Hale, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Eric`s Trip and the lighter side of the Jesus and Mary Chain (if that`s a possibility). I would highly suggest sending  Mark a trade in case you would like to hear some Shy Rights Movement material, or a polite letter / request. Mark didn`t mention the price of his albums. Better be safe than sorry. More information here: 
Mark Ritchie
94 Main Street
Forth
Lanark
ML11 8AB
UK
Email: donbirnam@hotmail.com




Horishima Yeah! # 115 (September 2014) (zine)


I just love this 8.5 by 11 inches cut and paste, black and white, monthly six pager zine. Cover picture stars of this issue: Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks. Big Daddy was an English professional wrestler famous for his record-breaking 64 inch chest. Giant Haystacks aka Haystacks Calhoun was a 6 ft 11 in 685 lb English professional wrestler. He laid the groundwork for future ring behemoths like: André The Giant, Big John Stud, King Kong Bundy, The One Man Gang and Vader. On the front page there`s also `bloodshot and trembling` poetry section. My favorites this time around are:
Found out
All my life,
In so many ways,
I`ve been waiting
To be found out.
And
Coaches & horses
They ruined it
Like they ruined
So many other things,
Trendy bar staff,
Cool music,
Modern décor
But zero soul.
Francis, Jeff and Norman
Wouldn`t even bother
To haunt this place.
There`s `1.5 years on probation `Gary Simmons monthly, vulgar, intense, in your face, funny as heel episodes of life in jail. I just love this stuff! Nest in line there`s a couple of music and concert (Mark Eitzel) reviews. There`s `Hiroshima Yeah! O`er London `which are various text messages Gary Simmons send and receives (what can I say? To each his own). Mark Ritchie writes `Trouble` a non-politically correct way of dealing with pricks in a bar. Man, I can definitely relate to that one. We end this zine with  `Doctor Thornaby chapter 2` (by: A Willshaw). I think this is a serial. It`s interesting, bleak at times definitely not an easy read folks. Contact: Mark Ritchie
94 Main Street
Forth
Lanark
ML11 8AB
UK
Email:   donbirnam@hotmail.com

Horishima Yeah! # 114 (August 2014) (zine)


HY! Is a 8.5 by 11 inches cut and paste, black and white, monthly five pager zine. There`s a picture of Bob Hoskins on the front page. He was a famous English actor who starred in classics like: The Cotton Club, Brazil, Pink Floyd The Wall, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Nixon, Super Mario Bros (not a classic but I liked it, hey, I`m weird, sue me), Enemy At The Gates, and Hollywoodland. There`s `the promise beauty` poetry corner. Favorite poems include:
Thinking too much
Thinking too much
Doesn`t help you
Get through life
Most of the time.
And
The feeling doesn`t reach me
People keep telling me 
How great I am,
How capable I am,
What a good friend I am, 
I hear the words,
Believe the intention,
Yet still the feeling 
Doesn`t reach me.
I always enjoy reading those poems it`s definitely potent stuff.  We also have `The Great Rock Tolchock`, Gary Simmons monthly installment of life in jail. This is weird, hilarious, crazy i.e. not an easy read that`s for sure. There`s some music and concert (Neil Young + The National Park) reviews. Mark Ritchie writes `a dog named tofu`. A short story  about what happens when you ingest unknown pills and drink too much at the same time, We end this zine with `Doctor Thornaby`, written by A Willshaw. Man, you have to read this to believe it. Now for the next step in evolution, write Mark a nice letter to get a copy of `Hiroshima Yeah! `. Contact: 
Mark Ritchie
94 Main Street
Forth
Lanark
ML11 8AB
UK

Email: donbirnam@hotmail.com




Saturday 20 September 2014

Karsten Hamre – broken whispers (CD)



I got this CD as a trade item. Never heard of Karsten Hamre before (he`s from Norway and is a prolific artist).  There`s seven tracks with a good running time of 51.39 minutes. I look at the cover and I`m thinking that this album could be punk, noise or probably some type of boring new age gothic crap. Appearances are deceiving indeed. It turns out that this is extremely well crafted music. The pieces are organic, brooding, sometimes atmospheric (dark soundscapes included), gloomy ambient electronics with soundtrack qualities. I am highly impressed. This is good really good. I would mix every song on this here CD with a segment from a movie. Then again, why not? Here goes:           
A – abandoned glory: Maniac (1980) = the scene where the girl gets offed in the subway station.
B – fortuna synapsis: the Ninth Gate (1999) = the end credits.
C – the black waves: The Thing (1982) = when they discover the spaceship buried in the snow.
D – enshrouded lands: The Silence Of The Lambs (1991) =  when FBI cadet Clarice Starling meets Dr Hannibal Lecter in prison (the first time).
E – an ominous serenade: The Tenant (1976) = before every creepy scene (there`s lots of them) in this movie.
F – dioxide universal: The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) = the spaceship lands, and we see Klaatu and Gort  slowly coming out.
G – when darkness falls: Revenant (2012) = Paul`s first encounter with the ghost which haunts the house. 
More information here:  
http://www.masterpiecedistribution.com




Thursday 18 September 2014

Music update

As I said in a post a while back I found a lot of old `Leper Collective` stuff on my laptop. Upon closer examination, I discovered raw material for our third album which was going to de titled `dinosaurs`. The concept behind this is simple. There`s one 80 minute long track divided in four parts:
A – noise (20 minutes).
B – ambient (20 minutes).
C – noise (20 minutes).
D – ambient (20 minutes).
Part one and two where already completed. There was a partially finished noisy part three. I started recording some raw noise bytes, processed them and mangled them beyond recognition (Flesh For frank territory anybody?). I assembled all of these noise parts together, thus creating a twenty minutes track of experimental noise. Next step is recording ambient material. I started messing around, doing live jam sessions with my STS-24 VST. The STS-24 is an amazing piece of virtual synth it can generate various types of ambient, minimal, dark wave ambient and spacey music. I could play with this all day long. To make a long story short I created a twenty minute piece of weird / evolving / spacey / ambient music. Then I glued all four parts together using another great freeware named `WAVGLUE`. The end result is a 82 minutes long track. I had to edit it the thing was way too big for a regular CD.  I managed to edit and burn it on CD-R.  Now it`s a 77 minute mix of noise / ambient/ noise / ambient. I also have to say that at this present time and space that `Leper Collective` was mostly me. Maim Paterson provided me with some raw audio samples / jam sessions. But I was the one recording 97 % off all tracks on our two albums (Of Toasters And Burnt Toasts and Channel Zero). He recorded only three tracks. That`s why I decided to call it quits. So the next `Leper Collective` albums (I plan on recording two or maybe three at most) will be named `LPR CLLCTV`.  The first one titled `Dinosaur noisers` is completed and will probably be released on Wreck Age Recordings. The second LPR CLLCTV album is named `The final chapter`. I recorded recently four pieces, which are:
A – defective detective.
B – uct – 1.
C – cosmic needle.
D – testosterone apple pie.      
                Now why am I working on an old, forgotten, unknown experimental noise project? My laptop is full of raw audio material (tests, jam sessions, samples, nearly completed tracks and audio madness). I need to make some room. I also want to end anything connected or remotely connected to Leper Collective and / or LPR CLLCTV. Those projects are dead (nearly dead right now) and I want to move on and do something else, like working on more Minimal Frank material, or perhaps some long overdue Flesh For Frank stuff.       

Tim Collapse interview



1 – How are you and who are you?
I am well thank you! My name is Tim from Altamahaw, North Carolina in the United States Of America. I am responsible for the noise / ambient / sound collage project known as Animals Like Earthquakes. 


2 – You seem to be into collage and mail art as well, can you give us more information regarding those activities?
In addition to my audio project I am also very involved in mail art. My collages are largely text-based, but in a purely visual (as opposed to literal) sense. I don`t think my work falls under poetry concrete, but people have made the comparison and I don`t know enough about it to debate them. Most of the elements I use in my work comes from scraps of paper, grocery lists or notes I find lying around at work. I like using deteriorated and imperfect things like fade letters, misprinted text and blurry stamped text and graphic like you find on fruit and vegetable boxes. Not for any deep or meaningful reason, I just find that sort of thing beautiful and charming to look at. Most of these collages end up as black and white photocopies that I send  out on a pretty regular basis, others end up as the basis for ink drawings and some end up as large scale paintings that couldn`t realistically mail anywhere and are taking up far too much room in my house.


3 – Where does the name `Animals Like Earthquakes` come from? Do you define `ALE` as a solo project, a band, a duo, a collaboration, a collective?
Animals Like Earthquakes actually comes from the liner notes from the Talking heads album Stop Making Sense. I don`t know why that particular phrase stuck with me like it did and I can`t really remember the context in which it was used, but I just liked the sound of those three words together. I really don`t even too much of an affinity for the Talking Heads. Some of their stuff is o.k. Fear of music was a good record.
     Animals Like Earthquakes is a solo effort in that it is just me doing the recording and performing, but since my work uses a lot of found recordings, answering machines specifically, I like to think of the people on the tapes and machines as collaborators in a way. I like thinking of it like that.


4 – Now, regarding your solo experimental noise project (if I could use such a term). What`s the sound of `Animals Like Earthquakes `sounds like?
I wouldn`t call  Animals Like Earthquakes `music ` even though it has some musical elements, but I hesitate to call it `noise `also because it`s far too structured. `Sound Collage `seems to be the description I feel most comfortable with. Most pieces have a score, believe it or not. Some are rigid and some are not with many having huge room for improvisation in the structure. The track `if you`d like to make a call `for example has a general structure that stays constant from performance, but many of the other elements change each time, resulting at times in a total change in the feel of the piece. It`s a piece that I couldn`t possible perform the same way twice, which is a lot of fun. I think atmospheric would be a good description of my work. A lot of people find it dark and creepy, but I don`t see that at all. I am definitely not a dark or creepy person at all.


5 – When do you record music (early bird, day bird or night owl)?
I record exclusively at night after my children are asleep. Doing anything that involves any level of concentration while they are awake and running is an exercise in futility.


6 – What kind of gear / equipment are you using?
For recording I use of bunch of analog tape recorders and microcassette machines. I have a really nice microcassette transcriber that is great for pitch and speed control. For effects I use a Johnson J-Station and a Behringer Reverb Machine.                                 I record onto a Tascam DP-02 Digital 4-track recorder and do editing and very minor manipulation on an increasingly unreliable computer that will barely run Audacity. I rig up other stuff like contact mics and such as needed. For live performances I usually only bring tape decks, answering machines and effects, but have started experimenting with heavily manipulated guitar as well, if for no other reason than to give me something to do while the answering machines and tapes play. Sometimes I don`t even use and amp, and even if I do I`m usually pretty quiet live, which I like because it forces people to sit very close to hear me. Very intimate. 


7 – What inspires you and what are your influences?
What inspires me is the simple but cosmic beauty of everyday life and everyday situations and how precious both of these are. The people talking on my recordings are real people and these are genuine glimpses into their personal lives. I find their messages and conversations very poignant, and the fact that these completely utilitarian recordings have survived and exist to inspire me is pretty overwhelming at times and I feel a particular responsibility to share them all. For the record I always edit out telephone numbers, and usually surnames as well to protect the privacy of these people. I struggled with that decision, but ultimately found it made me feel more comfortable to do so. I am inspired by Godspeed You Black Emperor , although I sound nothing like them. Their work has really caused me to look at bits of samples or dialog as important elements of composition. As far as the distribution of my music I find Erik Disorder and Stan Boman to be insoirational as well. Those guys have stuck to their guns of mail only distribution and kept those values intact for multiple decades now. Every time I start to even consider setting up a Bandcamp page I think of Erik and Stan licking stamps for 20 years and I`m over it.


8 – Besides your mail art projects and `Animals Like Earthquakes `do you have any other music and / or artistic projects?
I write reviews and comments on papernet culture in Paper Trails, my contribution to Cuneiform, an A.P.A. that I participate in. I`m working on a standalone zine that`s coming along but moving slowly. I used to be pretty active in the zine community, and hope to get more involved in the future.


9 – Do you perform live?
I perform live some, but there aren`t many places to perform the type of material I do around here and I`m not particularly interested in traveling more than an hour or so to perform. My friends Zach and Denny Corsa from the amazing drone band, Lost Trail used to have shows at their home (side two of my first release was recorded there), but while we had some great times there, attendance was usually poor and they aren`t doing them much anymore. I do the odd opening spot and have opened for some great artists (T.J. Borden, Kevin Greenspon, Big Waves Of Pretty, Al Riggs and The Inconveniences, etc).


10 – How`s the noise scene in Altamahaw?
There is no noise scene in Altamahaw. It`s a very small farm (and mostly closed) textile mill town. There`s some experimental stuff going on in Greesboro about 30-40 minutes away and a good bit in the Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill area, but as far as I know Lost Trail and myself are the only folks doing experimental work in the county.


11 – What type of music are you into? What about movies, television, radio maybe?
I like all kinds of music, but rarely seek out new music on my own anymore. I prefer to listen to whatever my friends give me or stuff I get in trades. I like radio too. From pop and rock on FM, to talk religious, and sports broadcasting on AM,and all kinds of bizarre and interesting stuff on shortwave. I like Godspeed You Black Emperor, and related side projects well as stuff like Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, etc. I like noise. Novasak, I Died, Sonic Disorder are all great. There`s a guy in Pennsylvania named Henry Rial who sent me a bunch of CD-R`s a while back that are some great noise. I love jazz and bossa nova. I think Thomas Dolby is one of the most underrated songwriters and musicians ever. I like a lot of ambient and electronic music like Boards Of Canada and Aphex Twin. I like primitive (20`s and 30`s) blues and country, western swing, 90`s alternative and elevator music. I even like some of the radio pop stuff my kids listen to. Not a music snob by any stretch and I have no guilty pleasures. Just whatever sounds good to me.


12 – Please give us some contact information?
You can contact me through my post office box: 
Animals Like Earthquakes
P.O. BOX 72
Altamahaw
North Carolina
27202
USA


13 – What is your opinion concerning modern technology like computers, internet, cell phones or intelligent phones?
My opinion on techno culture in general would take another 10 pages so I will just discuss it in relation to my art for now. As far as technology applies to my music, I`m not interested in having my art or music online or distributed online. It`s just not the venue I feel is appropriate for what I do. To hear or see my work you either have to meet me in person, receive a flyer, get my info from a review or interview, or have a friend make you a copy (which I strongly encourage). In other words, you have to have a one-on-one experience with someone else. I am completely unreachable except for my post office box. I have no interest in the wider audience I am sure being on the internet would entail. I am only interested in sharing my work with adventurous people who get what I`m doing and aren`t afraid to take on putting a stamp in the mail. The distribution of my work is part of the aesthetic almost as much as the work itself, if that makes any sense. Getting an order or letter from a flyer I set out is so much more rewarding than just seeing one more mouse click. I think the internet and it`s unlimited choices for finding music tends to actually limit people`s exposure to some of the more challenging work happening because when you can always find what you`re looking for whenever you want it takes the element of chance out of growing your musical taste.


14 – Any closing comments?
I have gone too long already! Thanks you for finding my work worthwhile enough to interview me!

Monday 15 September 2014

Found pictures of the day

The following two pictures where inside a small parcel that mister Node Pajomo himself sent me. They're pretty nice, Here goes:




This one would make a great cover for my next Flesh For Frank album. What do you think?



Tuesday 9 September 2014

Hal McGee Vs Black Beast Of ARRGHHH (cd-r)



A postal collaboration / construction / deconstruction  where each artist records stuff on a 30 minutes micro-cassette. Then they mix up both recordings, creating a 15 minutes long piece of sonic mayhem. Upon close listening I managed to recognize (inside that track of murky noise / music stew) a couple of things: dog squeaky toy, noise / semi-noise bits, found sound, field recordings and processed sounds from everyday life. The end result is a weird sonic voyage with meditative qualities, an almost ambient adventure. Dare I say `minimal ambient with experimental undertones`? You be the judge. Contact: http://www.haltapes.com/hal-mcgee-vs-black-beast-of-arrrghhh.html


Sunday 7 September 2014

Art is everywhere part 20

Once in awhile I get small packages courtesy of Nick Johnson. No letter, no notes but the parcel is crammed with various goodies: stickers, alien collages, unknown junk, you name it baby!!! This time he gave me these incredibly beautiful, homemade collages. I had to scan them and post them online. I mean look at them. What else is there to say...
  




Nick Johnson
P.O.BOX 21635
Eugene
OR
97402-0410
USA





Wednesday 27 August 2014

Art is everywhere part 19

This time around I have two amazing mail art pieces for you!!!



Here's the back side:   



Part 2

The back side all here...



Tuesday 19 August 2014

More short story time here !!!

Memory lane

Around 1984-1985 an old friend gave me a dubbed tape of `Siouxie & The Banshees – Hyena` album. The opening track `Dazzle` took my head off. A mix of classical arrangements, ethereal voice with a punkish / new wave / new music / indy attitude. I never heard anything like this before. It sounded classical, modern and…Pop. I loved the whole album with the exception of `Dear Prudence`, a cover of The Beatles song. I was never into The Beatles, I`m more a Rolling Stones kinda guy. My favorite Rolling Stones period is early sixties up until early eighties. I recognize The Beatles music but it never grew on me or touched my heart and soul. It`s good music but not my cup of tea if you will. Even though Siouxie`s voice on `Dear Prudence` is simply exquisite. A couple of months later I went at `Dutchy`s record cave` and purchased a vinyl version of `Hyena`. The cover design freaked me out. An abstract (kinda Picasso) drawing of some type of animal probably a hyena. 





Upon opening the record sleeve I look at the band`s picture. I immediately notice two things.
A – Robert Smith (The Cure`s head honcho) is lead guitarist for Siouxie & The Banshees. In fact, he was with The Banshees on two albums `Hyena` and `Nocturne` (a live recording).





B – What is that? Who is that? There`s a picture of Siouxie Sioux on her knees with a black outfit, with a deep dark, almost gothic looking eyeliner. She was long, slinky, skinny, a sexy dark feline. That day, I fell in love with Siouxie Sioux. 










          She had it all: looks, brains, attitude, talent you name it. The first thing that gets my attention or more likely attracts me is a person`s eyes. Siouxie has beautiful blue eyes which are accentuated by really dark eyeliner. There`s some sort of tribal, maybe gothic, maybe aboriginal, maybe abstract, maybe Egyptian more likely cat-like design in her eyes makeup. I always found this mysterious, feline, sensual, and highly original (or so it seemed). 





Between 1981 up until approximately early nineties I was into a lot of English bands: Siouxie & The Banshees, Echo & the Bunnymen, 





The The,




Gang Of Four, 



Icicle Works, 



The Bollock Brothers, 



PIL, 



and The Jesus And Mary Chain. 



Then in the early nineties I discovered / rediscovered electronic music. I was listening to a mix of old school (Kraftwerk, YMO, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis and Neuronium) and new school (Skinny Puppy, Front 242 and Severed Heads). Once in awhile I`d pick up `Hyena` and listen to it non-stop for a couple of days. During the following years, I had a lot of different / diverse music phases: grunge, punk, old jazz & blues (I`m still into that), cassette culture, anything experimental, datkwave ambient, noise, etc  These days I`m into anything electronically oriented. I purchase, trade and download music. There`s so many styles of freely downloadable mp3`s it`s simply unreal. I also review music on my blog. I recently got a parcel form Mark Ritchie (Hiroshima Yeah! Zine). His letter was written on an old black and white postcard. On the front there was a picture of a girl dressed in black, with dark hair and black eyeliner / makeup. She has almost the same makeup as Siouxie Sioux, I thought to myself. While reading Mark`s letter I notice something printed on the bottom left side of the postcard: Elizabeth Taylor –1962. 











It means that Siouxie either copied Liz Taylor`s style or was highly influenced / inspired or maybe never heard of her. And this is all just pure coincidence. New things are seldom created and recycling / re-interpreting is the norm nowadays. Kudos to Siouxie Sioux thought, I tend to think that she just did her thing without actually giving a damn about anything. After all The Banshees where formed in 1976 during UK`s punk explosion (Sex Pistols, The Clash, Buzzcocks, The Vibrators, The Damned, The Slits, etc).                                                    
Dazzle
The stars that shine and the stars that shrink
In the face of stagnation the water runs
Before your eyes
Swallowing diamonds
A cutting throat
Your teeth when you grin
Reflecting beams on tombstones
A jamboree of surprises
Playing Russian roulette
Or the lucky dip
A clenched fist to your heart
Coal dust on your lungs
A silver tongue for the chosen one
Heavy magnum in your side
Or a bloody thorn
Skating bullets on angel dust
In a dead sea of fluid mercury
Baby piano cries
Under your heavy index and thumb
Pull some strings let them sing
The stars that shine and the stars that shrink
In the face of stagnation the water runs
Before your eyes
Dazzle it's a glittering prize
Dazzle it's a glittering prize
Before your eye
It's a glittering prize
The stars that shine and the stars that shrink
In the face of stagnation the water runs
Before your eyes                                                                                                                                           
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group,                                                                              CHRYSALIS MUSIC GROUP.